This week in Oxford.....

The horrific news coming out of Victoria over the past week has been devastating and seems even more unrealistic when we looked out of our windows and see a city blanketed by snow and ice. It has been a major story even in the UK and our thoughts are certainly with those affected back home.

The ice has thawed and the snow melted and life has returned to normal in the UK - just cold and dark. We managed to drive down to Windsor on Saturday and visited the Queen at Windsor Castle. Unfortunately she snubbed us and we had to make do with an audio tour. Nevertheless, it's quite a remarkable fortress and the state apartments are very impressive. Noah was in awe of the soldiers/guards.

























Noah has started kindergarden and loves it. He has settled in really well and has already made a few friends - 'Oksar' and 'Senena' - we assume are Oscar and Sienna. We are encouraged by the fact that he will be learning to read and write and are impressed that he will be learning French as well. Although we were sightly alarmed to hear that the children receive chocolate as a reward for good behaviour. Ethan has become a real character. He has started 'Monkey Music' and has taken a real liking to it. Looking forward to his first birthday next week (has it only been a year???)



Meaghan has had an interesting week. It started on Monday morning when she went outside to collect our first home delivery of milk and yoghurt which she had ordered online - only to be greeted by 18 litres of milk and nine 6-packs of yoghurt (no joke). Where Meaghan thought she was entering 9 for 9th of Feb, she was actually writing 9 in the quantity section. Thankfully the company was understanding and collected the rest and thankfully the order wasn't for the 28th!! Meaghan has been trying a variety of avenues to aquire friends in Oxford and has finally had some success.....firstly the lovely Diane, a South African lady who has been living in Oxford for 22 years. En route to kinder, Diane stopped Meaghan on the street and invited her in for a coffee once she had dropped Noah off. Of course Meaghan, being Meaghan, couldn't remember which house Diane lived in (well they do all kinda look the same -especially covered in snow) and went home instead. Luckily Diane was in the street again the following week and over a cup of tea, set to work telling Meaghan how to meet other 'at home' mothers and other important Oxford facts. We look forward to a promised Sunday roast at their house soon! The local Sumertown Wine Cafe is a popular joint for yummy mummies during the day and Meaghan has met a few other nice mums so hopefully the diary will start to fill up.
This week holds a few potential highlights with a 'high table' dinner at Pembroke College (for Mark) on Tuesday, a black-tie college banquet on Friday night and Ethan's 1st birthday on the weekend. Watch this space.....